idealist
03-23-2008, 12:09 PM
Since getting a new house here in North Carolina (Orange County), I decided to start an organic garden. I live in the middle of a 1 acre wooded lot that is packed with trees (mostly tall pine trees). There is 1 area that gets a solid 8 hours of sun per day, except that area is directly on top of septic lines. So, I've got to plant a raised bed.
I went and bought (3) 8-foot long red cedar boards, so I'll start small with a 4x8 raised garden. I also have a 4x10 strip of galvanized poultry netting to staple to the bottom of the bed. We have loads of deer, squirrels, and possum here so once everything is in place I'll need to get some more to build a fence around it.
Here are some questions--
What can I use to stand the bed on? I've read here about people using concrete blocks and just putting the assembled bed on top of them. I've also got tons of unsplit campfire-sized logs that were here since I moved in. I could probably use the chainsaw and cut them into 1-foot sections to rest the bed on, but maybe mold would grow on them?
Should I put some kind of weed paper down inside the bed or would that interfere with drainage?
I'm starting a compost pile but there is no way that I'll have enough to fill the bed once I assemble it. After clearing away about 3-4 inches of old leaves and decomposing acorns and pinecones around the property, I tested the soil with a PH tester and it is sitting at a PH of 7. Would it be acceptable to just dig out some dirt from an area without septic lines and fill the bed with that?
There is a horse farm that is about 1/4 mile away from me which seems to have 2 huge piles of what looks like manure & hay sitting right by the road. I'm unclear about whether that would help me in any way but I figured that I would throw that out there too.
I started germinating some organic seeds in a little plastic greenhouse which I sit on a windowsill. They've been there for about 2 weeks, and I've been watering them every few days. Plenty of moisture in the little greenhouse. They all seem to be doing great, they are sprouting now. At this point I have corn, onions, sunflower, cucumber, and lettuce seeds in there. I'm waiting for my tomato seeds. Does this sound like a good first experiment with a 4x8 bed?
I can probably get some pictures rounded up if that would help.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice you may have.
I went and bought (3) 8-foot long red cedar boards, so I'll start small with a 4x8 raised garden. I also have a 4x10 strip of galvanized poultry netting to staple to the bottom of the bed. We have loads of deer, squirrels, and possum here so once everything is in place I'll need to get some more to build a fence around it.
Here are some questions--
What can I use to stand the bed on? I've read here about people using concrete blocks and just putting the assembled bed on top of them. I've also got tons of unsplit campfire-sized logs that were here since I moved in. I could probably use the chainsaw and cut them into 1-foot sections to rest the bed on, but maybe mold would grow on them?
Should I put some kind of weed paper down inside the bed or would that interfere with drainage?
I'm starting a compost pile but there is no way that I'll have enough to fill the bed once I assemble it. After clearing away about 3-4 inches of old leaves and decomposing acorns and pinecones around the property, I tested the soil with a PH tester and it is sitting at a PH of 7. Would it be acceptable to just dig out some dirt from an area without septic lines and fill the bed with that?
There is a horse farm that is about 1/4 mile away from me which seems to have 2 huge piles of what looks like manure & hay sitting right by the road. I'm unclear about whether that would help me in any way but I figured that I would throw that out there too.
I started germinating some organic seeds in a little plastic greenhouse which I sit on a windowsill. They've been there for about 2 weeks, and I've been watering them every few days. Plenty of moisture in the little greenhouse. They all seem to be doing great, they are sprouting now. At this point I have corn, onions, sunflower, cucumber, and lettuce seeds in there. I'm waiting for my tomato seeds. Does this sound like a good first experiment with a 4x8 bed?
I can probably get some pictures rounded up if that would help.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice you may have.